My previous post made Gwyn sound like my office junior..... Sorry, Gwyn!

Not only is she the technical genius who turns my notes into a valuable online resource, she's also a major collaborator, providing hundreds of images from around the country, hours in archives looking through books and newspapers and then going out to talk to people and pound the streets in search of elusive drill halls.

Quite useful, really.......

Ta, Gwyn

No problems Graeme. I am more than happy to wait, and will keep checking the website for progress. Admirable piece of work, and thank you!

Mel

Hi Graham.
Checked, cant locate this one.
There is a Drill Hall situated at Birdwell. Near Barnsley. South Yorkshire.

Recently part of the building has been taken over by a commercial company, but the part remaing is used by the Army Cadets.

It used to be the local recruiting drill hall for the Yorks & Lancaster Regiment.


Regards.

Brian.

Sheffield Road, Birdwell?


Graeme, I think we're going to have to prepare Yorkshire next! We have some great photos from Roger and others, which deserve to be shared.

Graeme's Little Helper.

Hi there Gwyn,

Nice one (hehe)

Cheers Roger.

ps Just sent Graeme photo's of Mirfield Drill Hall at last and also a press release from Kirklees Council about it.

Roger.

Roger - Ta, mate

Gwyn - Get on with it

Brian - Get yer camera out....

Seriously, folks, Yorkshire is absolutely huge, both in real terms and drill halls.

Gwyn suggested breaking it up into four for processing, as it will take a lot of work to turn it into HTML, so which Riding do you lot want first?

Let's get Hants up and running, whilst i tidy Yorkshire....

Graeme

Gwyn said three. West, North and East. What's the fourth?

As any fule kno, there are only three Ridings

I'm off to Eastleigh tomorrow - as long as the rain stops

OK, OK, three it is...........

Steve - take yer camera.... Leigh road and possibly Chamberlayne road..... Hope it stays dry

Graeme

Barracks, Barracks Road, Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire


Date: 1960 - 1979 (c.)

Description: The Italian styled Militia Barracks were built in 1855 from red brick. The Barracks were the headquarters of the 3rd King's Own Staffordshire Rifle Regiment, which assembled annually at Newcastle for training, until 1880. In 1882 W.H. Dalton bought the Barracks and settled them in trust for use by the Rifle Volunteers of Newcastle, which became the Territorial Force in 1907. In 2002 the Barracks had been let and contained small businesses.

Hi all,

Since 1974 the Broad acres of Yorkshire have been demoted from 3 Ridings to 4 Shire North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire(although its now been renamed East Riding), South Yorkshire(the 4th one), and West Yorkshire.

But as you can tell by my profile I still prefer the old Ridings Tradition, what do politicians know.

Cheers Roger.

The Drill Halls website uses the county names, structure and the place name spellings of the time, so we'll have three Ridings if we decide to divide up Yorkshire. One of my concerns is that most visitors wouldn't know which Riding a specific town was in; I wouldn't, if I wasn't sure whereabouts in Yorkshire it was. It needs thought.

Gwyn

Hi there Gwyn,

Point taken, as I would be lost with other counties.

But keep up the good work.

Cheers Roger.

Thank you, ExREME. We haven't got a photo of that one, so if you happen to come across one, we'd love to have a copy.

Roger - thank you for the off-forum offer of help with Ridingising the towns.

Gwyn

Hello Grant

Sorry for the delay.

Here are links to some documents I used:

Swindon Railway Village Conservation Appraisal.

Swindon Conservation appraisal.

and this contains a few snippets which might be interesting (if it's the right place):
UNESCO World Heritage sites proposed list

Without a map in front of me I don't know whether these answer your question, but if not, please say and I'll look further. I have hundreds of links to documents!

Gwyn

Hi Graeme,

I have posted a PM for you.

Cheers Roger.

Hi there Graeme and Gwyn,

I have this morning been out and photographed Castleford, Normanton and possibly what remains of Pontefract Drill Halls, once I have them resized I will send and post them.

The one I thought wouldn't be there was Normanton, but it is very much an active building called Carlton Lodge ans is now a care home owned by Hapton Care Homes.

Cheers Roger

Wow, Roger. Thank you! Looking forward to seeing the photos. I hope it was drier for you than it was here.

Gwyn

Llandrindod Wells drill hall is under threat. See Martin's thread in Chit Chat here.

I'm posting this note here for the sake of keeping a record of Drill Hall information in this thread.

Gwyn

Hi Gwyn,

Yes it was, which is more than can be said for me after throwing all that Stella down my throat last night(hehe).

Cheers Roger.

Public thanks for taking your camera out and about at the weekend on behalf of the Project, Roger. The photos arrived safely.

Gwyn

Hi to both,

I have located the opening day information about the Handsworth Drill Hall, and two newspaper images to compliment. Graeme, they have been sent to Gwyn

John

PS I will keep looking

Brilliant stuff! Thank you, John. I'll forward them to Graeme.

I must say that the drill hall looks cold - all those glazed roof-lights and all that space. It's lovely to have an internal shot, though. I wonder whose the portraits were?

Gwyn

Hi there Gwyn,

Good news at last about Huddersfield Drill Hall, I have spoken to the Captain there and been invited to attend next Tuesday night to have a look around inside the hall, he also as scrapbooks and such like and details of the unit/units present during the War years.

There is also a Roll of Honour of 2,000 men who left the Drill Hall never to return.

He as also given me permission to photo the exterior of the Hall and also anything within it as well, so it should be an interesting night, and he seemed pleased about the interest we have in this project.

Cheers Roger.

Graeme,

There is still a Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry Drill Hall standing on the 'Wilton Road' going out of Salisbury (it still has a carved stone badge at front and centre). The current Drill Hall was moved to what was RAF Old Sarum.

John
Many thanks for the Handsworth pics and newspaper extract - brilliant stuff!

The premises still stand in Nineveh road, now a club, the brick and stone frontage rendered.

The unit listed in the press clip is different to my database entry.
I list ASC; the paper lists RAMC as occupants. Any specialists fill in the gaps?

Thanks again

Graeme

Roger

I envy your trip to Huddersfield.

I think we'd better make you our Yorkshire Field Co-ordinator!

Carry on, Coporal Popeye.....

Graeme

Thank you; that's interesting. Would it be possible to have some more information (eg exact address) and even a photograph, please? A picture of the badge would be good, too.

Gwyn

Hi there Graeme,

Its truely my pleasure and I suspect there will be more stuff there that will require possibly more than one trip, by the way Captain Hey CO or OC not sure which till tuesday as no information on the Yorkshire Dragoons at Fitzwilliam Street as I suspect that it might have been pulled down to make way for the Inner Ring Road, and the only info I could get was what I have already sent you.

The popeye bit was given to me by my work collegues because I smoke a pipe(no I'm not old fashioned) and I enjoy it and let all the problems go away in smoke(pc incorrect).

Cheers Roger.

I hope you have a productive visit, Roger. I've enjoyed the opportunities I've had to go and explore the interiors of drill halls, both those in military use and those which have been recycled. The haunted one was quite unnerving.....

Gwyn

Hi there Graeme & Gwyn,

Prior to my visit to Huddersfield, I'd just like to mention that Captain Hey told me that the Drill Hall is held in trust by the people of Huddersfield and not a MOD building.

Cheers Roger.

Interesting that you mention that, Roger.

Many drill halls were built by public subscription; the bulk of the money was often from one or two wealthy local worthies, but many people supported their local volunteer unit.

Somewhere down the line, ownership passed to the Government, by fair means or foul. Look at the number of drill halls given over to the Post Office as sorting offices or telephone exchanges, leisure centres or parts of colleges or universities.

Owned, in truth, by the populus of the town that built the place, not the local council.

I'd enjoy seeing some keen legal mind challenging ownership.......

Graeme

Hi there Graeme & Gywn,

You are certainly right in your statement, and indeed myself and Peter Bennett have been along tonight to the drill, and I must say at this point I feel deflated and disapointed in the fact that we couldn't do proper justice to the Drill Hall or this project.

As suspected it will require some more visits to view the scrapbooks in there entirety they are leather bound with embossing on and each page is about 3/4 mm thick and cover from the early 20th centuary up to well we never found out.

The panalling containg the names of fallen that left there with the 5 th Battalion is awe inspiring and covers the whole of a Gable end and the names are readable.

I have managed to get a few photo's of inside it was dark so I will go back at the weekend and take the outside, then I will let you have copies of them.

Once again Captain Hey mentioned about the building be held in trust for the people and not MOD although its a very active TA centre.

Cheers Roger.

Hi Roger

Please don't feel deflated. Photos are only part of the project. If you have time to jot down some notes and impressions while it's still fresh, we can always include your own personal reflections on this building. Even just a few lines would be great! Facts, the way the place was set up, uses for different parts of it, things that surprised you, remnants of living or family accommodation, signs of past history, the style of the building and its architecture, anecdotes, whatever comes to mind. This is what I do and I send Graeme my private ramblings.

Sometimes funny details come out, like Screaming Lord Sutch being arrested on the roof of Grantham Drill Hall, or me being served coffee and biscuits, with sugar and sugar tongs and a silver coffee pot, on a silver platter in a grand ballroom (which was comical to me because I'm most inelegant and a mess, not at all worthy of ceremony); sometimes strange facts, like the drill hall which is haunted by an officer who copped it in a rifle accident; sometimes interesting history, like the Rolling Stones gigging at Lincoln Drill Hall. Each drill hall has its own personality.

Words are equally valuable to the project and mean lot to people for whom this might be the lost bit in their family jigsaw. Some forum members have already contributed their own pieces (thank you Jim and George). We're very open-minded and very appreciative of anything people can offer, provided it fits within the scope of the project.

Gwyn

Hi Gwyn,

Thats what I was trying to get over about basically the shortage of time tonight. I will have a natter with Peter and see what he picked also. Notes to follow shortly.

Have no fear I still have a great love for the Drill Halls.

Cheers Roger.

The 2nd bat Cheshire Reg drill hall is still up and running but is now a gym

Where, exactly, please?

Gwyn (also Cheshire)

Not sure if this is the one?

B(Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry) SQN.
The Royal Wessex Yeomanry
Old Sarum House
Portway
Old Sarum
Salisbury
Wiltshire
SP4 6BY

Let me know if you require other Royal Wessex Yeomanry TACs old and new to include;
Glos Hussars x 4
Devon Yeo x 3
Dorset Yeo x 2
Wilts Yeo x 2

Re 815

Ta Gwyn, didnt answer any questions, they were to do with the conservation of the railway village, the Drill hall is at the opposite end of the park and although it stands on the site of the undated original hall, it is now a modern (60's) building

Thanks for looking
Grant

Sorry. I can't add anything to the information which we put on the website about the Drill Hall in Church Place, the Park. Some of that was derived from the links I posted.

My understanding is that the Old Sarum site is 1930s, ex-RAF. I can't confirm this but a picture (hint, hint!) would date the architecture. My records suggest the now-demolished Market House as a centre for military activity at the turn of last century.

A trip to http://www.drillhalls.org/Counties/CountyPageWiltshire.htm will tell you where we're at; any gap filling will, as always, be gratefully received and duly credited.

GRaeme

A trip to http://www.drillhalls.org/Counties/CountyPageWiltshire.htm will tell you where we're at; any gap filling will, as always, be gratefully received and duly credited.

GRaeme

[/quote]

I've had a look at the above site and understand a little more of what is required!
There are a lot of old RGH Drill Halls noted and I think it a good excuse, after a little research, to get out and about with the camera............
I will also see if there are any that have been missed!

TTFN

Click to view attachmentHi there PALS,

Sad news alround the Old Drill Hall in Wakefield as now been demolished along with the whole area to make way for a monstrosity(excuse spelling), its a good job I got there first with my camera(haha) thats the good news.

Brilliant!

Thanks, photos are always good, whether to record, date, or deny the existence of a drill hall. Or where it used to be.

Absolutely anything is useful - we may not use it directly, but info read with other stuff creates a clearer picture of what, where and when.

Look forward to your discoveries.....

Roger - looks like Popeye had a couple of tins of spinach before messing up the Wakefield site!

Seriously - it's sad to see 'em go, but inevitable sometimes, and better that we record 'em before Barratts or Tesco get there...

Thanks, you happy snapper. Invaluable.

Another one at risk.



Oldham, photographed in the snow at the weekend.

Planning application for demolition and replacement by 30 houses. Apparently the builder won't even preserve the facade.

Gwyn

Hi Gwyn,

What a flaming shame, it looks fantastic, there's nowt so blind as a developer, but at least if I understand you right the building will remain.

Cheers Roger.

No, it will all go. I wasn't very clear, sorry. I've amended my post.

Gwyn

One with some good news. Spalding is being sold, but the planning permission specifically requires that the building is preseved, with any new bricks matching the originals and the roof tiles to be matched too. That terrible canopy has to go. There is planning permission for apartments withing the building.

Sorry about the cars. I couldn't edit them all out.



On the face of it, this seems to be an example of good practice.

Gwyn

Hi there Gwyn,

Never mind the cars what a beauty, got the photo's of Huudersfield Drill Hall and visited the site of 2 others in Huddersfield, one is a great mound of earth at the rear of a bowling green and the other is now a flyover for the Ring Road, and I have also got some copy material of the main Drill Hall which I have let Graeme know about, been a busy morning(love it really).

Cheers Roger.